CHAPTER XLIV. 
NABLOUS. 
We had a very pleasant ride of two hours through the val¬ 
ley of Nablous. It was one of the richest and most luxuriant 
valleys we had seen in all Palestine, abounding in fine groves 
of olives, fig-trees, and thriving vineyards and gardens; the 
grounds were fenced in with good stone walls, and we passed 
several mills, situated on the bank of a stream, which courses 
down through the middle of the valley. In the spring it must 
be a perfect little Paradise. Travelers who have passed through 
it at that season, dwell with delight upon the beauty of its 
gardens, and the abundance of rich flowers that bloom on the 
roadside. 
It was near sundown when we entered the old stone gate¬ 
way of Nablous. Passing through a labyrinth of narrow, ill- 
paved and filthy streets, we found comfortable lodgings at the 
house of one Asam, a Protestant Christian. Learning that Dr. 
Mendoza and the Madam had arrived on the previous day, I 
lost no time in finding them out. They had procured tolera¬ 
bly good quarters not far from the house of Asam ; and when 
I was ushered up the stone stairway, I had the pleasure of 
beholding them in all their glory, seated at a table, and glow¬ 
ing radiantly in the fumes of coffee and omelette. The Doc¬ 
tor’s head was buried in a red night-cap ; his face was of the 
purest olive color, and he bore evidence of having suffered the 
most intense physical privations. The Madam wore a large 
hat, about as broad in the brim as an umbrella, in order to 
preserve her complexion, which was already rather dark ; and 
I saw with distress that her amiable features were dreadfully 
lacerated by the attacks of vermin. However, she smiled as 
